What to eat in Morocco: a food guide for travelers.

Morocco's defining dish: slow-cooked stew in a conical clay pot. Common versions are lamb with prunes and almonds, chicken with preserved lemon and olives, and kefta (meatball) with egg. The conical lid traps steam and tenderises the meat over hours.

Where: Every restaurant in Morocco. For the real thing: a local family restaurant away from the main square, or a home-cooked version through a food experience tour.

Steamed semolina topped with slow-cooked vegetables and often meat (lamb, chicken) or chickpeas. Friday couscous — served after mosque — is a Moroccan institution. The best versions have seven vegetables and are served with a rich broth and harissa on the side.

Where: Local restaurants on Fridays. Many riads serve a couscous lunch on Fridays specifically.

A flaky warqa pastry pie filled with pigeon or chicken, almonds, and eggs, dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar. Sweet-savoury in a way that surprises most first-time visitors. One of Morocco's most complex and distinctive dishes — don't miss it.

Where: Mid-range and upscale Moroccan restaurants in Fes and Marrakech. Often needs to be ordered in advance.

A rich, tomato-based soup thickened with flour and lemon, with lamb, chickpeas, lentils, coriander, and celery. Served year-round and especially during Ramadan at sunset. Moroccan comfort food at its best.

Where: Street stalls, local cafes, and restaurants throughout Morocco. Look for spots where locals queue.

Whole-roasted or pit-roasted lamb, seasoned simply with cumin and salt. The meat falls from the bone after hours of slow cooking. Traditionally a celebration dish but available in specialist mechoui cafes in medinas — Marrakech's mechoui alley (near the Djemaa el-Fna) is famous for it.

Where: Marrakech's mechoui alley in the Djemaa el-Fna souk area. Order by weight.

Spiced ground lamb or beef, formed into patties or elongated skewers and grilled over charcoal. Served with bread, tomato salad, and sometimes egg. The version cooked in a tagine with egg and tomato sauce (kefta mkaouara) is a standout.

Where: Street stalls at Djemaa el-Fna in Marrakech, grill restaurants throughout Morocco.

Small triangular or cigar-shaped pastries fried in oil, filled with minced meat, cheese, spinach, or sweet almond-honey paste. Often served as starters or as street snacks. The almond-honey version is addictive.

Where: Pastry shops, medina stalls, and as starters in restaurants.

Smoky roasted aubergine and tomato salad cooked down with cumin, garlic, paprika, and olive oil. A cornerstone of Moroccan mezze and one of the best dishes in the cuisine. Served at room temperature with bread.

Where: As a starter or mezze at almost any traditional Moroccan restaurant.

Square flaky flatbread, folded and pan-fried. Eaten at breakfast with honey and butter or stuffed with minced meat and onion as a snack.

Spongy, honeycomb-textured pancakes made with semolina. Eaten at breakfast, soaked in butter and honey.

Small snails simmered in a broth of herbs and spices — thyme, anise, ginger, licorice root. A Marrakech street food institution at Djemaa el-Fna. Strange to look at, deeply satisfying to eat.

Moroccan doughnuts: ring-shaped, fried, slightly chewy, sold on strings from street carts in the morning. No filling — just oil, flour, and yeast.

Seville orange juice, squeezed in front of you. One of Marrakech's greatest pleasures and best values. Available everywhere.

Half a baguette filled with kefta, fried egg, preserved lemons, olives, and harissa. The breakfast sandwich Morocco does better than most of the world.

Round, dense wheat bread baked in communal ovens — the foundation of every Moroccan meal.

Flaky square flatbread, eaten with butter and honey or argan oil. Cooked fresh by hand.

Honeycomb semolina pancakes with hundreds of tiny pores that soak up butter and honey.

A thick paste of argan oil, almond, and honey. The Moroccan version of peanut butter — for dipping khobz.

Sesame and honey pastry, fried and coated in syrup. Found at breakfast and as a snack.

Moroccan mint tea — heavily sweetened green tea poured from height to create foam. Served at every meal and between them.

The national ritual. Green tea steeped with a fistful of fresh mint and several spoonfuls of sugar, poured from height into small glasses. Called 'Moroccan whisky' and offered everywhere as an act of hospitality. Refusing it is a social slight worth avoiding. The first pour is water; wait for the second.

The juice stands of Djemaa el-Fna are one of the great cheap pleasures of travel. Seville oranges, squeezed in front of you, for €0.80–1.50. The Seville orange's tartness and sweetness makes this categorically different from carton orange juice.

Thick blended avocado with milk, honey, and sometimes almond milk. One of the most popular drinks in Moroccan juice bars. Rich and filling — more meal than drink.

Coffee prepared with a small amount of argan oil stirred in — a niche local drink found mainly in Souss-Massa region and Agadir. Nutty, rich, and unusual.

Fresh lemon juice with a few drops of rosewater and sugar. Served chilled in some medina cafes and riads. A Moroccan flavour combination that works better than it sounds.

Fes el Bali is considered Morocco's culinary heartland. The old city's cuisine is the most historically preserved — pastilla here is closer to the original Andalusian recipe. Try: pastilla, rfissa (shredded msemen with chicken and lentils), lamb mechoui, harira.

The widest range of restaurants — from street carts to high-end riad dining. Best for the full street food experience: Djemaa el-Fna after dark, mechoui alley, fresh juice stands. Try: kefta tagine, mechoui by weight, snail soup.

Essaouira's fishing port delivers remarkably fresh seafood. The port-side grill restaurants let you choose your fish and have it cooked in front of you. Try: whole grilled sea bass, calamari, sardines, shrimp tagine. Best in Morocco for coastal eating.

Chefchaouen's cafe culture is the most relaxed in Morocco — sit in a square, drink mint tea, eat goat cheese with honey and khobz for an hour. Goat milk products (cheese, yoghurt) are local to the Rif mountains. Try: goat cheese, local honey, kefta sandwiches.